MediaCom has won the global AkzoNobel Decorative Paints account, extending its long-standing relationship with the world's leading paint and coatings company by adding media planning and buying duties in South Africa, Argentina, and MENA to their roster...

NEW YORK, US: The Midas Awards, for the World's Best Financial Advertising, announced the award winners for the 2012 competition. This year's Midas Grand Jury awarded one Grand Midas, 26 Gold Ingots, 46 Silver Ingots, and 63 Finalists. The 2012 Midas Awards competition received entries from 28 countries and is reputed to be the only international competition that recognises excellence in financial services communications on a global scale.

NEW YORK, US / LONDON, UK: MediaCom has named Fernando Emilio Silva as its new chief executive for Latin America. Fernando, who was previously chairman of Vivaki for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, will join the company 1 March 2012.

LIMA, PERU: Use of official advertising to reward or punish news media and government takeovers of media in several parts of the Americas continue to be powerful weapons used to hinder the free flow of information, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) concluded on winding up its 67th General Assembly held recently in Lima, Peru.

NEW YORK, US: Global advertising rose 8.8% year-on-year in Q1 to total US$118 billion* based on published rate cards, as advertisers spent more on television and continued to invest in booming consumer Asian and Latin American markets.

CANNES, FRANCE: A total of 28 828 entries from 90 countries (725 from SA) have been submitted to the Cannes Lions 58th International Festival of Creativity, the international annual awards for creative advertising and communications. This is the most entries in the history of the festival.

LONDON, UK: The global advertising industry climbed out of recession last year and posted a 10.6% year-on-year increase to US$503 billion* based on published rate cards from the Global AdView Pulse, a new report released by The Nielsen Company.

SANTIAGO, CHILE: comScore, Inc has released results from a study of the most popular online activities in Chile and Argentina. The study found that in both markets, social networking now accounts for more than one-quarter of all time spent online, ranking as the top activity in Chile (28.5% of total minutes) and the second most popular activity in Argentina (27.8% of total minutes).

MIAMI, US: The inaugural Festival of Media LatAm 2010 in Miami is said to have been a resounding success, attended by over 500 delegates from the Latin American and global media and marketing community. The winners of the Festival of Media LatAm Awards were announced at the close of the Festival.

MIAMI, US: Latam's jury of advertisers, media specialists and advertising experts has deliberated over work from 44 agencies across 11 countries in Latin America - covering entries from 77 brands in total. A shortlist of 45 entries has been announced.